George Russell told Toto Wolff to ‘let me f***ing drive’, fearing he would crash if his Mercedes boss kept talking to him.
The Briton capitalised on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris‘ crash to move from third place to win the Austrian Grand Prix.
So excited was Wolff by the sudden prospect of victory that he blurted out an ill-timed radio message, saying: ‘You can win this, George. You can win this.’
Wolff was able to smile about the gee-up, which he delivered just as his driver was braking into Turn 3.
‘This is the single dumbest thing I’ve done in 12 years at Mercedes,’ he said.
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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff pictured celebrating with George Russell on Sunday
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Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg – his first race victory since 2022
Wolff added: ‘I will be forever ashamed because you don’t message the drivers when they are braking or in high-speed corners.
‘But I didn’t look on the GPS. I just saw these two taking each other out and then emotionally pressed the button.
‘I could have taken him out with that message. Imagine how that would have felt. I was just carried away with the situation, but, seriously – embarrassing.’
Russell, claiming his second career win, said: ‘I almost crashed when I had Toto screaming into my ears.
‘But it just goes to show the passion that we all share. It’s obviously been a tough couple of years for us. It feels great to be back on the top step.’
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Max Verstappen (right) had been leading before colliding with Lando Norris (left) on lap 64
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Wolff got excited and sent Russell an ill-timed radio message that almost caused another crash
Russell finished ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, ending Mercedes’ barren spell dating back 995 days to the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
He promised to return to Monaco to meet up with Spanish girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt and a friend for a celebration last night. ‘I won’t go as hard as Lando did (after winning in Miami),’ he said. ‘If it is 50 per cent as hard as that it will be a pretty massive night.’
